Greetings, am still wandering through Europe getting a feel of the impact (sometimes, the lack of) of China in this region. Internet access has been intermittent as I travel through the countryside. More regular updates to come when I return. In the meantime…
A view from Australia: Shift in the global balance of power tilting east or will this be an Asian century of footing the bill for debts it did not ‘directly’ incur? The way this article is phrased suggests it also means footing the bills with little equivalent exchange in return. Will paying for someone else’s bad habits become the new norm in this new landscape of sharing a boat of interdependence and integration? Perhaps this shift is purely perceptual.
…in a sign that Europe is nearing the end of its tolerance for “helpful” suggestions from outsiders, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso told the G20 that the EU was not the cause of the current crisis and won’t be “lectured” by anyone.
“Frankly, we are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy,” Barroso said.
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Shifting power balance sees China, Japan dig deep to save the West
BY: RICHARD GLUYAS
Source: The Australian, published June 20, 2012
THE arrival of the Asian century has been underscored with news that China will kick in $US43 billion ($42.4bn) to the International Monetary Fund’s global firewall.
China’s commitment, which is the third largest after Japan ($US60bn) and Germany ($US54.7bn), compares with a weighty contribution from the mighty US — zero.
The US is clearly wrestling with its own problems, and a donation to Europe’s begging bowl would be political poison in an election year. Even so, the latest commitments to the new $US430bn fund, which were announced during the G20 summit in Mexico, highlight the anomaly of the US and Europe controlling key global institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, when the centre of economic power is tilting east. Read the rest of this entry »
Filed under: Australia, Beijing Consensus, Chen Wenling, Chinese Model, Economics, Europe, European Union, Finance, Foreign aid, IMF, Influence, Peaceful Development, Politics, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, The Australian, The Chinese Identity
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